Getting lost
by Paragon Dragon
Summary: Tony and Tim gets lost when the team searches for a dead marine in a maze-like cave system. SLASH
1. Chapter 1

**Don't own the caracters etc, etc. You know it, I know it. It's my first attempt on this kind of story, so I would be happy to know what you guys think. **

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Tony sighed and looked around in the huge cave. He had lost track of how many times they had come back to it. It seemed like it didn't matter which tunnel or passageway they chose to get out of it, or how many times they changed direction. The mountain just didn't want to let go of them. He just hoped that the others hadn't got lost either. On top of everything, it was no reception what so ever inside the mountain, so they couldn't contact anyone, and they couldn't be contacted or tracked. God, that sucked.

"Just admit it, Probie", he said to a very confused Tim. "We are lost."

"We are not lost, Tony", Tim protested as he turned their map around for the umpteenth time. "We are precisely... uhm... well, here."

"And where exactly is here, if I may ask?" asked Tony grumpily and sat down on a rock.

"That I am not sure of, but we're not lost."

Tony snorted and pulled out his water bottle from his backpack. He took only a mouthful before putting the bottle back. No-one knew how long they would be inside the mountain before they could find a way out, or someone found them, and he did not want to run out of water sooner than necessary.

He glanced at Tim and couldn't help thinking how cute the younger agent looked when he focused. He had always thought so, ever since the day they first met. He couldn't help but smile when he thought about how his heart had began to pound when Gibbs told them that he and Tim would team up in their search for the dead marine that was said to be in here somewhere. If it turned out that they really were lost, he couldn't think of another person he rather would get lost with.

Tim felt Tony's looks on him and then felt himself blush, to his own surprise. He had done that quite often recently whenever he was near Tony. His heart began to pound, followed by a familiar jolt in his stomach. As hard as it was to even admit it to himself, he did have a crush on the senior field agent. He just hoped that Tony never found out, or he would bugging him about it for the rest of his life.

Tim took a deep breath before settling his emotions under control and lowering the map.

"Come on", he said and folded the map. "Let's try again."

Tony nodded got up on his feet. He followed Tim out of the cave and hoped against hope that the Probie somehow could find a way that _didn't_ lead back to the cave they just left. Then he sunk into his own thoughts until Tim suddenly came to a halt, causing Tony to walk straight into him.

"Ow! Look where you're going, Tony."

"Sorry. Why did you stop?"

"Listen."

Tony tilted his head and listened as hard as he could. All he could here was the sound of his and Tim's breaths – and from a distance the sound of running -

"Water?" he asked and looked at Tim, who nodded with a broad smile on his face.

"Then what are we waiting for? Come on!"

Both men started to run towards the sound and soon they were in a small cave whit a wee waterfall falling down into a shallow pool. Tony exclaimed with joy, knelt by the water edge and drank deep from cupped hands. It was by far the best water he had ever had.

"We better fill all our water bottles", he said. "We'll never know when we might find water again."

"Tony, I...", Tim began but let his voice trail off, worriedly biting his lower lip. Tony looked up, a bad feeling gnawing in his stomach.

"What, Probie? Come on, just spit it out."

Tim swallowed. "Well, I actually think we should stay here", he said hesitantly, like he was afraid that Tony would hit him.

"What?"

Tim sighed down and sunk down on the rocky ground. "You were right earlier. We are lost. If I just hadn't forgotten the compass."

Tony was just about to say something really mean, but stopped himself in the last second. It wouldn't do any good. Instead he sat down beside Tim and gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"It is not your fault, Probie", he said. "I forgot my compass too, remember? Seems like Gibbs will kill us both when he finds us, huh?"

Tim chuckled dryly. "Yeah."

Tony dig around in his backpack and pulled out a paper bag with sandwiches.

"You want one?" he asked. "It's turkey."

"Sure. Thanks."

Tim took the sandwich from Tony and took a bite.

"This is good", he said, sounding a bit surprised. "Where did you buy it?"

"What, did you think I can't cook?"

Tim blushed and looked embarrassedly away. "Yeah", he admitted. "Sort of. It's just that you don't really seem like the kind of guy who cooks."

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, you do eat a lot of junk food."

"And because of that, I can't cook? That only proves how little you know me."

"Maybe that's because you don't talk about yourself so much."

"Trust me. My lief isn't that interesting."

He stood up and walked towards the tunnel from which they'd come.

"Where are you going?" Tim yelled after him.

"To take a leak", Tony yelled back over his shoulder. "I'll be right back."

Tim sighed. Tony was really difficult to understand sometimes, even though he was a very simple man. For some reason he just refused to let people too close to him, emotionally. Sure, the entire team was like one big happy family, but Tim didn't really think that any of them knew the_real _Tony, the person behind the jokes, the person he was outside the office.

Tim sighed again and unfolded the map, which he still held in his hands, and once again tried to find out where they might be.

"Why do you waste time on that thing?" Tony asked as soon as he got back. "We are lost. Just face it."

"Well, I thought that maybe I could figure out where we are now. Not many caves have water in them."

"But there are still more than one, right?"

"Yeah..."

Tony sighed and snatched the map out of Tim's hands and shoved down his backpack.

"Hey, what did you do that for?" Tim asked angrily.

"Tim, we can't run around down here forever. Let's just stay here and wait 'til someone finds us. Gibbs should know that we are missing by know. By the way, our batteries are running out. I think it's best that we get some sleep so we save them."

"I agree, but we should try and find a drier cave nearby. It's so damp in here that we would be soaked in a couple of hours if we sleep on this floor. I don't think that it would be good for any of us if one of us get sick, and you have still not recovered fully from the plague."

"You're right. Let's go."

This time, Tony led the way and soon they actually found a cave that was more or less dry. It was only a five minutes walk from the waterfall cave, so now they would be fine for a while.

The cave wasn't big at all, actually even smaller than a normal bedroom, but it was still big enough for them to stretch themselves out on the floor completely. Tim put his backpack down beside the cave wall and lied down. He watched while Tony did the same before turning off his lamp.

"Night, Tony", he said and pulled down his cap over his eyes.

"Night, Tim."

The darkness that fell upon them when Tony turned off his flashlight was almost so think that he could feel it pressing against him. In that moment he remembered that he _hated_ this kind of darkness. He wasn't afraid of the dark when there was _some_ light around him, but he had never liked it when he couldn't see anything at all. It made him feel more vulnerable than he liked. Every sound that came to him in the darkness was transformed in his imagination to something dangerous. When Tim suddenly cleared his throat in his sleep, Tony gave up a shriek of fear and turned his flashlight on again, panting and with his heart pounding wildly in his chest, like some panicked and caged animal.

"Tony, are you okay?" Tim asked worriedly and sat up,

"Of course I'm okay, Probie", Tony snapped, but even he could hear the sound of nervousness in his voice.

"Are you sure? You don't sound like you're okay."

"But I am okay, okay?"

Suddenly, Tim's flashlight began to shine and Tony saw Tim heaving himself up on his elbow, looking over at him with a worried frown on his brow.

"Tony?" he asked carefully. "Are you afraid of the dark?"

Tony thought about denying it, but changed his mind and nodded. He waited for Tim to start laughing, but his partner didn't make a sound to mock him. Instead he said:

"Tony, why didn't you tell me?"

"Would it have made a difference? I am not afraid of all kind of darkness, just this one when I can't see a thing."

"You still should have told me."

"It wouldn't made a difference. Now go back to sleep."

Tim frowned as he saw Tony lie back down and stare up on the ceiling. He felt that Tony just wanted to be left alone right now, but he wasn't going to do that.

"Tony, dark is just the lack of light, you know", he said carefully.

"You think, Probie?" Tony snapped in such a good imitation of Gibbs that Tim couldn't help but smile.

"You think it would be easier for you to sleep if I lay beside you?"

Tony sucked in air and held it. His heart began to pound again, but for a different reason this time. God knew how much he wanted it, but he was also afraid of what might happen. But he was tired and most of all he wanted to get some sleep, so if it meant sleeping next to Tim, so be it. He would just lay on his side and not move for the rest of the night. Yeah, definitely not moving. That would work, right?

He sight and gave Tim a sour look.

"If you touch me, I'll beat the freakin' daylights out you", he warned.

"Got it."

Tim got to his feet, picked up his back pack and put it down next to Tony. Slowly, he lowered himself down on the ground and sighed before turning his back on Tony. He actually wanted to turn around on his other side and put an arm around Tony's waist and hug him close, bury his nose in the nape of his neck and breathe in his scent all night. But that was not gonna happen. Ever.

"Do you think you can sleep now?" Tim asked over his shoulder.

Tony sighed heavily and rolled over on his side. "Maybe. Thanks, Tim."

"You're welcome. God night, Tony."

"God night."

The darkness fell over them for the second time. Almost immediately, Tony tensed his muscles, but soon he relaxed again when he felt the warmth from the body behind him. He closed his eyes and sighed with relief. He knew that with Tim watching his six, even though he was sleeping, he could feel completely safe, and it didn't take long before he was sound asleep.

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**So you've read the first chapter. Now please review and let me know how it was. And please tell me if you think I should update or not. **

**Review people! **


	2. Chapter 2

Gibbs paced impatiently back and forth in front of the mouth of the opening that led into the mountain, growling under his breath.

"Damn it, DiNozzo! Where the hell are you?"

It should have only taken the agents two, maybe three hours to search their part of the mountain, but now they had been in there for approximately eight hours. Gibbs and Ziva had found the dead marine pretty soon and had sent the body back with Ducky and Palmer while they had remained behind to wait for the missing agents. Gibbs patience was now running out. This was time they could have used to solve the case.

Gibbs sighed and went back to Ziva, who was sitting on the ground by the car with her back leaning against the bumper.

"Any signs of them?" she asked.

"No", Gibbs said and glared at the opening, as if he tried to scare the mountain to spit his agents out.

"Well, they must have get lost", Ziva said and got up. "There's no other explanation."

"You think, David?" Gibbs snapped and gave the Israeli officer such a fierce look that she had to look away.

In that moment, Gibbs phone began to ring. He pulled it out of his pocket and flipped it open witch such force that Ziva almost thought that it would brake.

"Gibbs?"

_'Jethro, I'm getting worried about you'_ said Ducky's voice. _'Is everything alright? Why haven't you got back yet?'_

"DiNozzo and McGee haven't got out yet, Duck. Ziva and I are still waiting for them."

_'You don't reckon they have got lost, do you?'_

"That's exactly what I think. If they haven't got out withing an hour, me and Ziva will find a motel or something and get some sleep. The caves are rather safe, so DiNozzo and McGee will manage one night in there. We can go search for them first thing tomorrow."

_'Do you need help?'_

"Sure, Duck. If I don't call you back within an hour, grab Palmer and meet us up here at 0900 hours tomorrow morning. And tell Abby what's going on."

_'As you wish, Jethro. Good bye.'_

Gibbs turned his phone off and then turned to Ziva.

"You heard me?" he asked.

"Yes", she replied. "We wait for an hour and then we check in at a motel. Got it, Boss."

She sat down again and watched Gibbs take up his pacing once more. Soon she got a bit annoyed by it, but knew better than to ask him to be still. A worried Gibbs was an angry Gibbs, and she didn't want him to turn his angry on her. So she just sat there and let him be, hoping that DiNozzo and McGee were okay, bu their was no reason to why they shouldn't be. They had both probably been in worse situations than this, and the cave _was_ safeafter all.

When the hour had past, Gibbs stopped pacing and went back to the car.

"Get in", he told Ziva as he opened the door to the driver's seat. Ziva quickly got up from the ground and jumped into the car just as Gibbs started the engine. She had barely closed the door and buckled up before Gibbs drove off, making the wheels spin a few moments before they got a hold on the ground and the car took off. They drove in silence for about half an hour before Gibbs found a small, insignificant motel beside the road. It looked like it had seen better days, but it was better than nothing and it was only for one night.

Gibbs parked the car and then he and Ziva went to the lobby to check in. Ziva looked around as they crossed the parking lot and frowned.

"It seems like we are the only one here", she said with a low voice.

"Yeah, but then we can have the best rooms they've got", Gibbs replied and held the door for her.

The lobby was dark as the only light was a small desk lamp standing on the counter. Gibbs slammed the bell and a moment later, an old man slowly limped out from the office, heavily leaning on a wooden cane. He looked surprised when he saw Gibbs and Ziva and peered nearsightedly at them.

"Oh, dear", he said with a weak, shaky voice. "Oh, dear."

He stopped when the counter forced him to a halt and put a pair of very old glasses on his crooked nose, before taking out a ledger from a drawer on his side of the counter. He opened it, turned the pages until he came to the right and then looked up at Gibbs.

"There we are", he said and smiled at the silver-haired man. "So what can I do for you, young man?"

"We would like two rooms for the night, please", Gibbs said politely.

The old man's eyes turned big as he looked form Gibbs to Ziva and back again.

"Oh, dear", he said again and suddenly looked troubled. "Oh, dear."

"Is there a problem, sir?" Ziva asked.

"Well, you see my dear", the old man said, "I have only one room to rent out. All other's are occupied."

"Occupied?" Gibbs said doubtfully. "How can they be occupied when it is obvious that we are the only guests you've got?"

"Well, you see, since I don't have so many guests, I use almost all the room for storage."

Gibbs muttered something under his breath before sighing with resignation.

"We'll take it", he said. "How much for one night?"

"Including breakfast, fifty dollars."

Gibbs frowned at the low prize, but then he took out his wallet and paid for the room. The old man put the money in a cash register that look just as old as him before taking down a key from the wall behind him and rounding the counter.

"Follow me", he said and beckoned them to follow him. "I'll show you your room."

He took the agents down a hallway in such a low pace that even a snail would have been able to catch up with them. Ziva rolled her eyes and quickly earned a painful swat to her head by Gibbs. When she looked up at him, he gave her a rebuking scowl, which made her blush and look down. Fortunately, the old man didn't seem to have noticed anything.

They stopped by a blue door at the end of the hallway and patiently waited for the keeper to unlock it, which took him a while. Then the lock gave up a satisfying _click_ and the door swung open.

"There are clean sheets on the bed and clean towels in the bathroom", the old man said and beckoned the two agents to get it. "I wish you a good night."

"Good night", Gibbs replied and closed the door.

The room was big and well kept, possibly the best room in the entire motel, even during it's palmy days. Most of the room was occupied by a king size bed that looked rather comfortable, but it was also the only furniture in the room.

"I take the left side", Gibbs said baldly and kicked off his shoes. "Wanna use the bathroom first?"

Ziva just stared at her superior, trying to take in what he just had said.

"You saying that we are sharing the bed?" she asked doubtfully.

"Yeah. Any problem with that?"

"No, not at all."

"Good. Wanna use the bathroom first or not?"

Ziva swiftly fled to the bathroom and took a deep breath before getting ready for the night. When she got out, she swiftly took off her pants, jacket, shoes and cap before crawling under the covers. The bed was _very_ comfortable and she was almost asleep when she felt the mattress swift under Gibbs' weight and the rush of cold air as he got under the covers.

"Night, Ziva", he said and turned off the light.

"Night..."

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**Next chapter will be about Tony and Tim, but from now on updating will take longer, because school starts tomorrow. **

**Review people!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Phew! Well, here it is. Chapter 3. I hope you like it, cause I had some difficulties writing it. Writer's block, you know. **

**Now, enjoy. **

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When Tony woke up he was freezing. He curled up into a ball to preserve his body heat and tried to get back to sleep, but soon he found it impossible. He was too cold. And another thing: he couldn't feel if Tim was still laying beside him, either. He rolled over on his back, sat up and turned his flashlight on. Just as he thought, Tim wasn't in the cave. Tony began to feel a bit worried even though he knew he didn't have to. Tim probably just had gone away to take a leak or refill their water bottles, and besides, he was a grown man who could take care of himself. But Tony still admitted to himself that he would have felt a lot better if he had woken up with Tim by his side.

He got to his feet and stretched out his stiff limbs, making a personal note to never sleep on stone again, even though he had a feeling that he would brake the promise pretty soon. He yawned and reached down for his back pack, digging through it after the bag of sandwiches. He was starving. Just as he pulled the bag out, a whistling Tim entered the cave.

"So you have finally decided to wake up", he said and smiled broadly.

"Obviously", Tony said and rolled his eyes. "How long have you been up?"

"An hour, maybe. I couldn't sleep, so I took a walk."

Tony froze and felt a jolt of fear in his stomach. What if Tim had got lost on his own during the walk? What if he had been left completely alone in cave? The thoughts were too disturbing to think of so he swiftly pushed them aside.

"Just be careful so that you don't get lost again", he said and sat down. "You hungry?"

"Famished."

Tony took out a sandwich from the bag and held it out to Tim, who took it and tore off a huge bite with his teeth.

"Best sandwich I ever had", he said with his mouth full.  
"Thank you, Probie."

"Is it really true that you've made them yourself?"

Tony gave Tim a look of false shock. "Don't you believe me? Probie, I am offended."

"Tony, I am serious."

"So am I."

"Tony, come on. Stop make everything a joke."

"I don't. And besides, you started it."

Tim sighed in frustration and turned his eyes to the ceiling, silently begging the higher powers to help him bear with the senior agent.

"Tony, please", he begged. "Just tell me. It isn't exactly like I'm asking you to tell me your life story."

"Yeah, you're right", Tony said and gave in. "And I did made them. Oh, come on!" he said when he saw the doubtful expression on Tim's face. "It isn't that hard to believe. Making a sandwich isn't exactly nuclear science. I _can_ cook. I am even pretty good at it, but most of the time I don't have time for it, so I buy junk food instead. You know how it is when we have to work on a case 'til late."

Tim nodded. He knew exactly what Tony was talking about. Some evenings he was in the matter of fact so tired that he just went straight to bed, being way too tired to eat.

He sat down beside Tony, picked up his bag and took out his water bottle. He drank a few mouth-fulls and then looked out into nowhere.

"Do you think they'll find us?" he asked.

Tony answered by giving Tim a head slap that even Gibbs would be proud of.

"Ow!" Tim exclaimed and pressed a hand to his aching head. "What did you do that for?"

"For you doubting Gibbs", Tony said.

"I don't doubt him, I'm just..."

"What?"

"Nothing. Forget that I even said anything."

He tried to stand up, but Tony grabbed his arm and forced him to sit still.

"Tony, let go!" he said and tried to shrug the older man's hand off him, but the grip was firm and Tony did not let go.

"Not until you tell me what you were going to say", Tony said and looked Tim straight in the eyes.

Tim looked like he was about to protest, but then he looked away.

"I'm just worried that they might get lost too", he said with a low voice.

Tony looked stunned at Tim for a while before throwing his had back and laugh.

"Gibbs getting lost?" he said. "He doesn't even know what getting lost means! Besides, he's too smart to get lost. Trust me. I know him. And I don't think that Ziva would be able to get lost, either. They'll find us."

"Yes, but when? We might even be stuck here for days."

Tony slapped Tim again, harder this time.

"Ow! What the..."

"You doubted Gibbs again. Never do that. Ever. He _will_ find us and he will find us soon. You hear me?"

"Yes, I hear you."

"Good."

Tony sighed, moved backwards a bit and rested his back against the wall. He began to feel a bit restless. It was really frustrating to just be still and do nothing.

"Hey!" he called out to Tim, who turned around to look at him with with an eyebrow raised questioningly. "Do you want to take a walk to the waterfall cave?"

"Sure."

They got to their feet and grabbed their water bottles before leaving the cave. They walked briskly down the tunnel to the waterfall cave. They quenched their thirsts before refilling the bottles. They were very lucky to have a fresh water source so close by. They could manage with out food for a while if they had to, but not without water.

Tim was just about to leave when he saw that Tony stood close by the water's edge and thoughtfully looked down into the pond.

"Tony, what are you doing?" Tim asked.

"Probie, how deep do you think the pond is?"

"I don't know. A few feet, maybe."

"Well, I think it is more."

"Why do you want to know that anyway."

Tony shrugged. "Just curious."

"Well, I am going back now. You coming or not?"

When Tony turned around to leave, he slipped on the slippery stone by the pond and fell straight into the water.

"Tony!"

Tim ran over to the pond and look down into the water just as Tony's head broke the surface and gulped for air. Tim reached down, grabbed Tony by the collar of his jacket and pulled him out of the water. Tony was shivering badly with cold but still managed to smile up at Tim.

"I was right, Tim", he said. "The pond is deeper than just a few feet."

He stumbled to his feet and shook the water from his hair like a dog, giving Tim a shower in the process.

"Come on", Tim said. "Let's get you dry."

They walked swiftly back to their cave, where Tim began to take off Tony his wet clothes.

"Hey, what do you think you are doing, Probie", Tony said and tried to stop him.

"Tony, we need to get you warm and dry", Tim said patiently. "You might get the plague again. Now let me help you remove your clothes. I'm giving you mine."

Tony looked like he wanted to protest but then he gave in. Tim helped get undressed and scraped off so much water as he could from Tony's naked body before taking off his own clothes and help Tony to put them on, keeping only the boxers. His clothes was a little too small for Tony, but he did stop shivering once he had got them on.

"Aren't you cold, Probie?" Tony asked then and eyed Tim's naked skin.

"I'll manage", Tim said, but he did start to feel the cold. The cave was everything but warm and he felt how goosebumps began to form on every inch of his bare skin.

He wrung out Tony's clothes as much as he could and then put them out the ground, hoping that they would dry fast. Then he sat down on a dry spot and tried not to think of the cold. He knew he would manage. His highest concern right now was actually Tony. He hoped that the senior agent wouldn't get seriously sick from his involuntary bath.

Tony sat down beside Tim and looked gravely at him.

"You are cold, aren't you?" he asked.

Tim nodded, not looking at him.

Then Tony suddenly lied down on his back and pulled Tim down beside him so that he was lying with his head resting on Tony's shoulder.

"Tony, what are you doing?" Tim asked when Tony put his arms around him and pressing him against his body. He tried to get up, but Tony wouldn't let him.

"Just lie still, Tim", Tony said calmingly. "I'm keeping us both warm."

Tim slowly let himself relax and sunk deeper into Tony's embrace. He could feel Tony's body heat seep into him and sighed heavily. How much didn't he want this to be for real?

"I think we better turn the lights off again", Tim said after a few moments. "The batteries won't last forever and I didn't bring any extras."

"Me neither."

The turned the light's off an Tim felt Tony freeze for a second before relaxing again. He wandered what it was with darkness that scared Tony so.

"Tony", he said carefully.

"Huh?"

"Why are you afraid of the dark?"

He felt more then heard Tony's sharp inhale and knew that he had hit a sore spot.

"I don't want to talk about it", Tony said after some moments of silence.

"You sure? It might help."

"I know it won't help."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I just am, okay? So stop bugging me."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

Tony sighed heavily. "No, I am the one who should say sorry, Tim. I shouldn't have barked at you like that."

"Now you said it again."

"Said what?"

"Tim. You hardly ever call me Tim, and now you've done it several times."

"What, am I forbidden to say Tim all of a sudden?"

"No, I am just so unused to hear it from you. You always called me Probie or McGeek. It's almost as if you've begun to..."

"Begun to do what, _Probie_?"

"Begun to like me."

There was a moment of silence until it was broken by Tony's laughter.

"What so funny?" Tim asked, not helping to feel a little offended.

"You. Did you seriously believe I didn't like you? Of course I do."

"Then why don't you show it more?"

"Well, the truth is, I have always had difficulties in showing what I feel, and with you it is even harder."

Tony could have bit his tongue off. Why was he confessing to Tim like this? It would ruin everything, but he found that he couldn't lie to Tim. Not about this.

"Why is that Tony", Tim asked and Tony could here the small shiver in his voice.

"Because...", he began but let his voice trailed off. He took a deep breath and started over, finally dropping the bomb. "Because I love you."

Tony expected Tim to pull away from him, hit him or anything, but instead he just lied there. Tony was afraid to say anything, so he kept his mouth shut and waited for Tim's reaction. And it was not the on he had expected.

Suddenly he felt Tim shift beside him, heave himself up on one elbow. Tony held his breath, unable to move. He felt Tim's hand trace up his tone stomach, across his hard chest until it touched his face. Tony felt waves of heat crash over him and made him take a shivering breath. Then he felt Tim's breath on his face before their lips met in a soft kiss.

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**Now don't forget to review. I want to know what you guys think, even if you think it sucked.**

**I'll try to uptade chapter 4 asap. **

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	4. Chapter 4

**I just have to say thank you for your reviews. You guys have been great. You are the ones who keeps me continuing this story. Here is the fourth chapter for you. Enjoy.**

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"David!" 

Ziva woke up with a start and sat up, blinking against the sharp sunlight that shone in through the window. She looked up at her boss, who stood beside the bed, already fully dressed.

"Time to get up", Gibbs said, giving Ziva a stern look.

Ziva was just about to get out of bed when she suddenly froze. A light shade of red turned up on her cheeks and she looked a bit embarrassedly at Gibbs.

"Boss, do you mind if...", she began but let her voice trail off, not sure of how she would put her words.

"I've been married three times, Ziva", Gibbs said. "Do you really think I'd care?"

"No, but I would."

Gibbs sighed and gave his only female agent an amused smile.

"Fine, then", he said. "I'll wait in the hallway."

"Thank you, Boss."

She waited until Gibbs had closed the door behind him before getting out of the bed and looked at her watch. 7.00 AM. Gibbs really didn't want to waist any time.

She swiftly got dressed and paid a quick visit to the bathroom before leaving the room. She followed Gibbs down the hallway to the lobby, where the old man already stood behind the counter. He was reading something from a big, old book and didn't notice the two agents until they stood in front of him.

"Oh, dear", he said with his thin voice and looked startled up at them. "Oh, dear."

"Did we scare you, sir?" Gibbs asked politely.

"No, not at all", the old man said. "I just didn't expect you to be up this early."

"It isn't early for us, sir", Gibbs said with a smile. "If you don't mind, we would like to have some breakfast now."

"Of course. Follow me."

He limped around the counter and took them down another hallway in the same slow pace as the previous night. They went through a glass door and came to a dusty dining room.

"You can sit wherever you like", the old man told them. "What would you like to have?"

"Coffee", Gibbs said immediately. "And maybe some pancakes."

"You too, dear?"

"Yes, please", Ziva said. "But I'll have juice instead of coffee."

"I'm afraid that we are out of juice", the old man said regretfully.

"Then water will be fine."

"All right. Now take a seat. My wife will bring you your breakfast soon."

The two agents chose a small table by the window and sat down. Ziva looked out through it and thoughtfully took in the beautiful view. The dining room was placed at the back of the motel and she was looking at the edge of a forest that grew on the surrounding mountains. It was a pine forest and the huge trees dressed the mountains in deep shades of green.

"David!"

Gibbs irritated voice forced Ziva back to reality. She looked up at him and blushed a bit when she realized that he had been talking to her.

"Where were you, Ziva?" Gibbs asked.

"I was just admiring the view."

"Stop doing that and pay attention."

"Yes, Boss. Sorry, Boss."

A hint of a smile appeared at the corner of Gibbs' mouth, but it vanished just as quickly. He opened his mouth to say something, but in that moment an old woman came over to them, carrying a tray loaded with their breakfast.

"Good morning, dearies", she said and put the plates with pancakes and a bottle of maple syrup in front of them, along with Gibbs' precious coffee and Ziva's water. "You slept well, I hope?"

"Very", Ziva said. "Thank you."

"Oh, don't mention it, dear. Burt and I are just glad to have guests here again. How long are you staying?"

"We're be on our way again as soon we've finished our breakfast", Gibbs said and drank some of the coffee. By the look in his eyes Ziva could tell that he liked it. She might not know her boss that well, but she could tell when he liked his coffee.

"Oh", the woman said and Ziva could have sworn that she saw a disappointed look on her face, "well, in that case I wish you a good day."

"Thank you, ma'am", Gibbs said. "A good day to you too."

The woman smiled at them before returning to the kitchen. Gibbs looked after her until she had disappeared and then sighed heavily.

"I hope it goes well for them", he said with a low voice, more to himself than to Ziva. "It's a miracle that they even manage to run the place."

Ziva felt that he didn't want her to reply, so instead she dug in on her pancakes, which were really good. They both finished their breakfast rather quickly and then went to say goodbye to the nice couple before getting out to the car.

When they once again were outside the mountain, the time was merely 8.30 AM, which meant that they had to wait for about half an hour before Ducky and Palmer showed up. Ziva stayed in the car with the door open while Gibbs got out and took up his pacing once again.

If there was one think he hated so was it waiting, especially when he didn't have any coffee to calm his nerves. Even though he was sure that nothing bad had happened to his missing agents – his guts told him so – he still couldn't stop himself from worrying about them. Gibbs always took care of his own, and his agents knew that, and even though he hardly wanted to admit it to himself, he was actually mad at himself for not get back inside the cave and look DiNozzo and for them sooner. Why wait until now?

Gibbs sighed and forced those thoughts away. There was no point in worrying about that now. He also knew that he thought like that because of his lack of coffee. He had hardly had any yesterday and the one cup he had had for breakfast wasn't enough by far.

Then he heard the sound of car approaching and turned around to the road that led to the caves. It didn't take long before the NCIS van appeared from behind a tree and parked beside Gibbs' car. Soon Ducky got out, along with Palmer and, surprisingly, even Abby. As soon as she had spotted him, Abby ran over to Gibbs and flung herself around his neck, hugging him so hard that he could barely breathe.

"They are okay, right?" she said. "Please say that they are okay. I don't know what I'd do if they are hurt. I need them, Gibbs."

Gibbs didn't say anything. He just put his arms comfortingly around Abby and frowned at Ducky, who came over to him with Palmer and Ziva in tow.

"I couldn't stop her, Jethro", Ducky said apologetically. "She was very determined. I was afraid that she would do something stupid if I didn't let her come. I actually tried to call you, but you didn't answer."

Gibbs frowned again and took up his phone. His frowned deepened when he saw that the batteries were dead without him even noticing.

"Batteries are out", he said and put away his phone again.

"Well, that explains a lot then", Ducky said. "It reminds me of one time a couple of years ago when..."

"Ducky, we really don't have time for any stories right now", Gibbs said and pried Abby's arms from his neck. "Let's focus on getting my agents out of those caves."

"You are right, Jethro. How are you planning to do this?"

"I'll go with Gibbs", Abby said before anyone could say something different.

"You are all going with me", Gibbs said. "I think it's best that we walk together, just in case they are hurt."

"Good idea, Jethro", Ducky said and turned to Palmer. "Will you go and get the stretcher for us, Mr. Palmer?"

"Right away, Dr. Mallard."

The young man turned around and ran back to the van. It didn't take long before he returned with the two stretchers. Gibbs send Ziva to get their back packs from the car and checked that he had got everything before looking at the others.

"Now listen", he said. "The caves and tunnels stretch out in all directions inside that mountain it's more or less like a maze in there. We won't return out before we have found DiNozzo and McGee, so expect that we might walk around in there for several hours. And stay with the group. I don't want to search for more people than necessary. You hear me?"

They all nodded.

"Good. Now let's move it."

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**If you want to know what happens next with Tim and Tony, you better review, or I won't update anymore. I want plenty of encouragement, so press that blue button and tell me just how much you like this fic. I'll probably not be able to update until next week-end, so you have plenty of time.  
**

**Review people!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Surprise!**

**I know I said that I wouldn't update the story until next weekend, but I just finished it and thought "Why wait?" so here it is. Hope you like it. **

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Tony couldn't believe it. Tim was kissing him! He closed his eyes and gave in to the kiss completely, putting a hand behind Tim's head to steady him and hugging him closer with his other arm, as a low moan ascended from his throat. This was better than he had imagined it to be.

Tim flickered his tongue over Tony's lips, begging for entrance. Tony parted them almost immediately and welcomed Tim with a soft caress from his own tongue. Tony moaned again as Tim began to explore his mouth, softly and carefully. The kiss became deeper, more passionate, and soon both men let soft moans and whimpers escape them. They lost the sense of where and when. Nothing existed but them.

After what for both of them felt like an eternity, they reluctantly broke the kiss, due to the desperate need for air that suddenly overwhelmed them. Their panting breathes mingled as they laid there in the dark. Tony pressed Tim's head against his shoulder, folding his arms protectively around the younger man and pressed an affectionate kiss on the top of his head.

Tim snuggled closer to Tony, moving his head slightly until he could hear the steady rhythm of his love's heartbeats. How many nights hadn't he dreamt of this? For how long hadn't he been longing for Tony's love? And now he finally had it.

"I love you, Anthony", Tim mumbled and outermost happiness and deep joy suddenly filled him when he realized that he now could allow himself to utter those words without fear of being rejected.

Tony smiled broadly and felt his heart swell in his breast. God, how he had yearned for Tim to say those words to him.

"I love you, too, Timothy", he said. "Of all my heart. I swear to you, by everything I cherish, that from this day on and until the end of time, I will always belong to you. Nothing will ever do us apart."

Tony mad sure to put all his love and affection into his voice when he said that. He had never in his life said anything like it to anyone before and he meant it. By the depths of his sole, he meant everything of it and he hoped that Tim could hear and feel it.

Tim took a shivering breath and gave Tony a deep, loving kiss. It was all the answer Tony needed. He closed his eyes as Tim's hand began to search its way under his clothes and gasped when he felt the caressing touch on his skin. He began to moan again as Tim's hand began to make slow circles across his abdomen, slowly making its way upwards. Tony's breaths grew more rapid as waves of pleasure crashed in over him. When Tim's fingers found his sensitive nipples, Tony broke the kiss and groaned loudly like an animal, throwing his head back and letting his eyes roll upwards into his skull.

Tim smiled mischievously and began to place kisses on Tony's neck and throat, playing with his tongue across the heated, soft skin under his lips. He could feel the fast pounding of Tony's pulse and playfully sucked on the skin, soon tasting blood as a hickey was formed. Tony's moans and groans aroused him more than he could imagine, knowing that he was the one who caused them.

In that moment Tony felt that he couldn't take it much longer. Reluctantly, he took a firm grip around Tim's wrist and pushed him away.

"Please, stop", he said breathlessly, taking deep breaths in order to calm himself down.

"What's the matter, Tony?" Tim asked and Tony could hear the confused tone in his love's voice, mixed with panic. He smiled at Tim, even though he knew that he wasn't able to see it, and gave his cheek a soothing caress with the back of his hand.

"You are driving me crazy, my love. You almost made me come."

"Why is that a bad thing?"

"It isn't." Tony gave Tim a light kiss. "Not by far."

"Then why did you make me stop?"

"Because I don't want to make a mess in your pants. Semen is a bit sticky, you know."

"Good point." Then Tim grinned mischievously and let a hand trail down Tony's body until it touched his groin and the hard swelling he felt beneath the fabric. Then he simply undid the pants and pulled them down. His hand found Tony's erect sex and he softly let his fingers run up and down over the hot, smooth skin.

Tony inhaled sharply and felt his eyes become wide.

"Tim, what...", he began, but was swiftly silenced with a kiss before he felt Tim's warm breath on his ear.

"Sh. Don't move a muscle."

Tony inhaled again, more expectantly this time, and forced himself to be completely still. Tim kissed him once more and Tony could _feel_the smile on the corners of his mouth. Then Tim began to move himself down his body and the next moment he felt Tim take him into his mouth.

Tony's world soon exploded when the wave of pleasure, that slowly had been building up inside him, suddenly filled him to the brim and overflowed. He arched his back and screamed when the divine feeling rushed through him over and over again, as Tim's tongue and mouth slowly caressed him with lovingly strokes, making him come harder than he ever had before.

Tony let out a last, shivering groan and then relaxed completely. He panted heavily and then reached down after Tim, pulling him up on top of him before folding his arms around his body. He gave Tim a deep kiss, tasting himself in his mouth, and then pressed his forehead to Tim's.

"It was like heaven on earth", he mumbled.

"So I did a pretty good job then?" Tim asked whit a smile in his voice.

"You did, my love. You did."

Tim smiled and put his head under Tony's chin, sighing happily. "I love it when you call me that."

"Call you what?"

"'My love'. It makes me feel safe and protected."

Tony's embrace became tighter and he buried his nose in Tim's hair. With a low voice he began to sing a calm Italian song. It sounded like a lullaby, but Tim wasn't sure. Nonetheless, it was beautiful. He had actually never thought Tony to be the singing kind of guy, but he had a great voice, soft and smooth to listen to. He could listen to it forever.

"That was beautiful, Tone", he said drowsily when Tony stopped singing.

"Tone?"

"Yes. You have been calling me names for so long that I think it's my turn now."

Tony chuckled warmly. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. But my nickname for you isn't by far as foul as those you have for me."

Tony suddenly got all tense. "You really think they're foul?"

"Well, maybe not exactly fowl, but I've never liked them. They make me feel like you're looking down on me. Like you think yourself being better than me."

"Tim..." Tony's voice sounded shocked. "How could you ever think like that? Don't you see? That was the only way I could think of to show you any kind of affection. I am not good at expressing how I feel, and I would be devastated if you rejected me, so I called you those names. But I really thought that you understood that I didn't really mean anything by it."

"I do know. Better late than never, right?"

"It is."

"It's just one thing I wonder about, though."

"What?"

"How come that you never told me how you felt sooner?"

"Like I said before, if you had rejected me, I would have been devastated. And besides, I didn't know that you felt the same way about me. If I had known, I would have spilled my heart out years ago."

Tim guiltily bit his lower lip. It was true. He hadn't exactly tried to make Tony aware of his feelings, either. But it was too late to think of that now. And it didn't really matter anymore.

Suddenly Tim was overwhelmed by a deep need for Tony to touch him, to kiss him and caress him.

To make love to him.

He lifted his head and covered Tony's mouth with his own, pleading Tony to enter his mouth. He groaned silently when Tony complied and closed his eyes, savoring the love and care that radiated from the older man.

"Tony", he whispered after he had broken the kiss. "I want to feel you inside me. Please?"

Tony was silent for so long that Tim became afraid that Tony was thinking of a way to say no, when the older man suddenly sat up and turned his flashlight on. He got to his knees and looked deeply into Tim's eyes, took his face between his hands and kissed him so softly that their lips hardly met. He continued by placing equally soft kisses on Tim's throat and shoulders, making Tim close his eyes and let out a shivering breath. He knew that Tony would comply.

Tim got to his own knees and removed all his clothes completely from Tony's body. Then he leaned back so he could take in the divine sight in front of him.

"You are so beautiful", he whispered with a shy smile, and let his fingers trail through the silky soft hair on Tony's broad chest and stomach . "You're making me the happiest man on earth."

Tony smiled his devilish grin, mischievous sparkles shining in his green eyes.

"We'll see about that."

He moved around Tim until his stomach was pressed against Tim's back. Tim closed his eyes and leaned against Tony as he slowly and thoroughly began to caress his body. A low groan of pleasure escaped him and his breaths became deeper and faster. He felt Tony nibble lovingly at his throat and shoulder, sending wonderful shivers down his spine, before he utterly slowly pulled down his boxers.

Tim gasped sharply when Tony began to caress him between his legs, feeling the wave of pleasure building higher and higher inside him. Soon he wouldn't be able to hold back anymore.

"Tony, I...", he began, but was silenced by a kiss. He could feel Tony move both his hands to his butt and massage his cheeks. Tim bit his lower lip and leaned his head against Tony's shoulder, the wave of pleasure soon close to the brim.

"Tony, I'm coming!" he gasped. "Please...!"

Tony gave him a last, teasing kiss before he finally thrust himself inside him.

Tim threw his head back and screamed as he the world disappeared around him. All he was aware of was the heavenly pleasure and the man that moved inside him, making him scream louder and louder by each trust. Soon the two men moved as one, their screams, moans and groans mingled so that it was impossible to know which man made which sound. They both felt like they were flying, soaring on the love they felt for each other.

None of them could tell how much time that had passed when the last waves of heat and pleasure rushed through them, leaving them exhausted. The only sound that was heard in the cave was their heavy panting. Tony gave Tim a kiss on the neck and then pulled himself out, lying down on the ground. Tim laid down beside him as close as he could get, resting his head on Tony's chest with an arm around his waist. He sighed happily and closed his eyes. Life couldn't be better than this.

"I love you, Tim", Tony whispered in his ear.

Tim smiled. He would never grow tired of those words. Not if they came from Tony.

"Love you, too", he mumbled, already half way to sleep.

"Tim?"

"Mm?"

"I think I want to take my clothes on. The stone is a bit cold."

Tim groaned reluctantly before getting to his feet. He put on his own clothes – still warm from when Tony wore them – and watched Tony go check if his clothes were dry.

"Well, they are still a little damp", Tony said when Tim asked him. "But not much. They can dry while I wear them."

He put the clothes on, shivering when the cold fabric met his skin, but tried to ignore it. He would be dry and warm again soon, anyway.

A loud rumble from his stomach made Tony blush and press his hand against it, but it was no use. His stomach did not want to be silenced.

"Tim, do you have anything to eat?" he asked with a sheepish smile.

Tim sighed and rolled his eyes. "You are hopeless", he said, but still reached for his backpack and took out a big, blood red apple, which he threw to Tony. Tony looked skeptically at it.

"An apple?"

"It's all I've got. I didn't exactly plan to get lost, so I didn't bring so much."

"What else do you have?"

"Another apple."

Tony shrugged an took a bite. He chewed thoroughly and thoughtfully for a while before deciding that the actually liked the apple. He took another bite and then sat down with his back at the wall, beckoning Tim to sit beside him. Tim did so and Tony out an arm around his shoulder, hugging him close with one arm.

"You know what?" he said.

"What?"

"I think that Gibbs will find us any time now?"

"You do?"

"Yeah. I can feel it in my guts."

Tim snickered. "You have spent way too much time around Gibbs."

"Well, it has been hard to avoid. He is our boss. If he can trust his guts, so can I, and my guts tells me that he is on his way."

"Good. I really want to get out of here." A pause. "How do you think he'll react when he finds out about us. _If _he finds out, I mean."

"I don't know. He won't be happy about it, that's for sure. We _are _braking rule number twelve, after all."

"You think he'd fire us?"

"He'd kill us. Skin us alive and give what's left of us to the crows. But fire us? No. Definitely not."

"Come on, Tony. I'm serious."

Tony smiled and kissed Tim on the forehead.

"Well, frankly, my darling", he said, "I don't give a damn."

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**So what did you think? Too drawn out? **

**Review people! **


	6. Chapter 6

**This chapter didn't turn out as good as I wanted it to be. I met this dirtbag a couple of days ago and got a little distracted. Hope you like it anyway.**

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Gibbs stopped to take a look on the map as Abby drew an arrow on the tunnel wall with a piece of chalk to mark the way out of the mountain. Gibbs had snorted at the idea at first, but soon found it to be pretty good as he discovered that it wasn't so easy to find his way through the caves and tunnels even with a compass. The marks prevented them to take the same path twice by mistake, and that had probably shorten their searching time a lot.

Gibbs made a cross on the map, marking the cave they just had checked and sighed when he saw that there was just a few caves more to search. Soon they would find his lost agents and they could head back out. He was so sick of caves that he promised himself that he never would set his foot in one ever again.

"How mane caves is there left to search, Jethro?" Ducky asked. "My old legs isn't used to this much walking, I'm afraid."

"Only a few, Duck", Gibbs reassured him. "We'll be out of here in no time."

"Thank goodness. I was almost afraid that we would spend the night in here."

They continued walking down the tunnel. Gibbs eyes never left the ground while he searched for any sign that his agents had walked through here, but the stone was unyielding, just as he thought it would be.

"You really think well find them soon, Gibbs?"

Gibbs gave a start when Abby's voice suddenly spoke out next to him. He looked up and frowned at her, but the young goth just looked calmly at him. That was one of the things Gibbs liked about her. She had never been scared of him, now matter how fiercely he looked at her.

"Yeah, I do, Abs", he said and let the frown vanish from his brow.

"But what if they have moved around more? What if we have missed them completely."

Gibbs growled under his breath. He had considered that possibility a number of times, but he swiftly pushed the thought aside once more. DiNozzo and McGee would know that it was a foolish thing to move around when you are lost. They would have found themselves a nice cave and stayed there. And besides, he could feel in his guts that they were close, and his guts had hardly ever let him down.

"They haven't moved around, Abs", he said. "We will find them."

"You sure?"

He gave her a light whack in the back of her head, making her wince, but she kept her mouth shut after that.

They walked for almost half an hour until the they came to a crossing. Gibbs looked at the map again and tried to decide which way to go. It didn't really matter, because both ways led to a new cave. He was just about to ask Ducky for his opinion when he thought he heard something. He looked at Abby, who he knew had the best hearing of them – in spite of her loud music – and saw that she definitely had heard something too.

"Abs?"

She beckoned him to be quiet and walked a few steps up the new tunnel in order to hear better. It didn't take long before she turned around with a broad smile on her face.

"I can hear them!" she exclaimed and jumped eagerly up and down.

Gibbs joined her and listened closely. Even his old ears could catch the echoing sound of laughter that drifted towards them. Against his will he felt his mouth twist into a smile. Then he got all serious, took a deep breath and barked at the top of his lungs:

"DiNozzo!"

The laughter died out and was replaced by an tense silence.

"Boss? Is that you?"

Gibbs sighed with relief. Finally!

"Stay where you are!" he yelled. "We're coming to you."

Abby let out a shriek of joy and ran a head. It didn't take long before she found her friends, sitting in a small cave and smiled broadly when she entered. Tony immediately got to his feet, held out his arms just as Abby flung herself around his neck. He hugged her almost as hard as he hugged him and pressed a kiss to her temple.

"Happy to see you, Abs", he said.

Then Abby suddenly let go of him and hit him hard on his shoulder. Tony exclaimed in pain and held his throbbing shoulder.

"What did you do that for?" he asked.

"For scaring me half to death! I was worried sick of you two."

"Sorry, Abs", Tim said with a sheepish smile. "We didn't mean to."

Then Abby turned to him and hugged him too.

"I missed you, Tim", she said.

"Missed you too, Abs."

In that moment the rest of the team entered the cave. Gibbs looked thoroughly at his two agents before smiling at them.

"You two okay?" he asked.

"We are fine, Boss", Tony said. "Just fine."

"We're just glad that you found us", Tim added.

"Well, it doesn't hurt to take a look at you, anyway", Ducky said an walked over to them. Abby stepped back a little and watched while the ME checked on the two agents. Then she frowned thoughtfully. It was something with them that she couldn't put her finger on. Every now and then they glanced at each other and there was a spark in their eyes that she'd never seen before. It was almost as if the were...

Abby gasped and had to hold back a very wide smile. Now she understood why both her friends had seemed so blue lately. They were in love! In each other! And they had finally spilled it out.

She glanced at Gibbs and by the troubled look on his face she knew that he had seen it too. And he wasn't happy about it.

No, Gibbs was not happy about it. He could detect the smell of sex in the cave and he had seen some semen on the floor. He also saw how the two agents looked at each other, with deep love in their eyes. He clenched his jaws and sighed heavily. This did not bode well. There was a reason to why he had established rule number twelve, and now both DiNozzo and McGee had broken it. He would have to have a serious talk with them, and he didn't like it.

"Okay, people", he said, getting everyones attention. "Let's get out of here."

"On your six, Boss", Tony said with a smile and grabbed his backpack before following Gibbs out of the cave, Tim and the others in tow.

The walk out took about an hour, a walk filled with talk and laughter. Abby clung to Tim's arm all the way as if she didn't want to let him go ever again while Tony bickered with Ziva. He laughed warmly when he heard that she and Gibbs had to share a bed and fired off a teasing smile towards their boss.

"Braking your own rules, huh, Boss?"

Gibbs eyes narrowed dangerously and Tony gulped hard. The next moment the tunnel echoed with the resounding noise of a head slap, followed by Tony's yelp in pain. Gibbs had never hit him that hard before. The slap had almost made him topple over and stars danced across Tony's eyes. He shook his head to clear his vision and gave Gibbs an almost frightened look, a hand pressed to the back of his head.

"Boss..?"

Gibbs stared fiercely at his subordinate, not knowing what to say. Then he snorted, pushed his way past the others and walked ahead, ignoring Ducky's calls. He knew he shouldn't have slapped Tony, so hard, but he hadn't been able to stop himself. He had just snapped. God, he really needed some coffee right now.

"Tony, are you okay?" Tim asked worriedly.

"I'm fine", Tony said gravely as he watch Gibbs walk away. "It's him I'm worried about."

"Don't trouble yourself about it, my boy", Ducky said reassuringly. "He has just been out of coffee too long."

Tony sighed heavily and nodded, but he was not convinced.

The rest of the team followed their boss in a somewhat lower pace, sensing that he wanted to be alone for a while. When they finally got out of the mountain, Gibbs was already sitting in the car, waiting for them. Tony gave Tim a troubled look and the walked over to the car with the younger man in tow. They jumped into the backseat with Abby sitting between them, as Ziva got into the front seat. Tony saw that Gibbs' grip on the steering wheel got tighter, but chose wisely not to comment it. Abby, on the other hand, didn't.

"Come on, Bossman", she said and punched the silver haired man lightly on the shoulder. "Sheer up. We have found them. You can't be grumpy now."

A stern look from Gibbs made Abby wince and look away. He waited until Ducky had driven off before he started the engine and followed the van. Tony sighed. This was going to be a long drive.

When they finally got back to the head quarters, they were all really tired. They swiftly went up to the bullpen to drop off their gear and then Gibbs sent them home. Down in the parking garage, Tim and Tony waited until Ziva had driven away before they embraced each other and locked their lips in a deep kiss.

"Wanna come home with me, my love?" Tony asked and smiled warmly at Tim.

"I do, Tony", Tim said regretfully. "But I don't think we should. Not tonight, at least."

Tony sighed and nodded. "As you wish", he said. "See you tomorrow, then."

Tim smiled broadly and gave Tony a teasing kiss. "You bet."

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**Ok, that was chapter six. **

**review people. **


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning, Gibbs arrived at the office at the unearthly hour of 4.00 AM. He had hardly slept at all that night, his head spinning with the problems he had to face later and his body high on coffee. He had probably never drunk that much coffee at one time before, but it had helped his nerves to settle. It felt very good to have the caffeine back in his system again.

Gibbs sighed heavily as he seated himself behind his desk and took a sip of his umpteenth cup of coffee. He glanced at his watch and sighed again, knowing that no-one would come to the office in at least three hours. He took another sip of the coffee and began to ponder how to best confront McGee and DiNozzo. He decided that he'd just take them to the conference room as soon as they showed up and get this over with, make them explain themselves. He really didn't want to fire them and if another opportunity showed up, he'd take it.

Since they had postponed the case with the marine, Gibbs retrieved a file of a cold case and dug into it with all he was worth. He was so lost in the case that he didn't notice that Abby showed up in the bullpen a few moments later. She slowly approached his desk and gave him a start by touching his shoulder lightly.

"What are you doing here, Abs?" he asked and frowned at her.

"I could ask you the same thing", she said and sat down on the edge of the desk, giving him a concerned look. "You know, don't you?"

"Yeah", he said and looked away, knowing perfectly well what she meant.

"You can't fire them, Gibbs", she said then, with grate determination in her voice.

Gibbs looked up at her and frowned again. "How did you...?"

"Never mind", she interrupted him. "Just promise me you won't fire them."

"Abs, you know why I stick by my rules. If they are in love, it might jeopardize the whole team one day."

"Like how?"

"You know how. If one of them are in danger, the other will probably not see things straight and make a foolish decision. I can't afford that to happen."

"We can't afford to lose them, either. Gibbs, we are family. No other team is probably this close. I love them both, and so do you. You know it."

"Abby, please. Don't make this harder than it already is."

"I can't see why it's hard at all. Just leave them be. Support them. They deserve each other, Gibbs."

"Don't you think I know that, Abby?" Gibbs snapped, slammed his hands in the desk and stood up, locking eyes with the goth who refuse to yield as much as an inch to his fierce gaze.

"No, I don't", she said slowly, not braking eye contact. "Why can't you just leave them alone? Is it because they turned out to be gay?"

"No, that's definitely not the reason. I don't care if they are gay or not. What they do on their spare time is none of my business, but what they do here is. I can't have them getting distracted from what they do if something happens. I just can't. Why can't you understand that, Abby?"

"It's _you _who don't understand. We are _all _already that close to each other. Them being in love doesn't change that fact. They just took it to the next step. Don't say that you wouldn't get a little distracted if any of us was in danger."

Gibbs opened his mouth to speak but shut it firmly again. Abby was right. He realized that now. He took a deep breath, sat down and closed his eyes for a moment, forcing himself to calm down. Then he opened them again and locked eyes with the forensic once more.

"This still doesn't change the fact that I have to confront them", he said as calmly as he could.

"Fine", Abby said and Gibbs was actually surprised by the look of steel he saw in her eyes. "But if they go, I go."

With those words, she left the bullpen and went down to her lab. Gibbs looked after her until the elevator doors closed on her, before leaning against the back of his chair. He gulped down the last of his coffee and went to get another one. He really hadn't seen that coming. It put the whole thing in another perspective. He was threading a very narrow path here.

It took another couple of hours before the rest of the team showed up. Ziva came first and just a couple of minutes later, DiNozzo and McGee came in together, laughing and joking as they stepped out of the elevator. Ziva raised an eyebrow at their sudden change of behavior towards one another, but then she shrugged and let it pass. It was only understandable if they had developed a friendship while stuck in the mountain, and now they might even get some peace and quiet.

Gibbs sighed when he saw the two agents. He stood up and walked over to them made them stop right in front of him.

"What's up, Boss?" Tony asked with a wary smile, the extremely hard whack he had received last night still fresh in mind.

Gibbs felt a sting of guilt when he saw how at unease Tony was but waved it aside. It had to wait 'till later.

"Both of you, come with me", he said and walked away.

Tony and Tim exchanged a questioning look before following their boss. He took them to the conference room and beckoned them to sit down before looking the door. Then he took a seat in front of them, clasped his hands and rested his arms on the table. He looked at his two agents in silence, not knowing how to begin. He saw McGee get more and more nervous and probably clasped hands with DiNozzo under the table. He sighed heavily. He might just as well get it over with.

"Are you or are you not braking rule twelve?" he asked, the tone of his voice warning them of lying to him.

"We are, Boss", Tony said gravely after a moment of silence.

"For how long?"

"Only since we got lost. None of us had the gut to spill out how we felt until then."

"What happens now, Boss?" Tim asked and Gibbs could see the anxiety in the young man's eyes.

"I don't know, Tim", he said. "I guess it's up to you."

"I am not choosing work over Tim!" Tony said fiercely and looked Gibbs straight in the eye.

"I never asked you to, Tony", Gibbs said calmly. "And I never will."

He almost laughed when he saw the confused expression on his agents' faces.

"What do you mean?" Tony asked.

Gibbs couldn't help but smile at them.

"I had a talk with Abby earlier this morning", he said. "She pointed out that we are already all so close to each other that rule twelve is unnecessary – even though she didn't use exactly those words. That we are one big, happy family and that you two only had taken it to the next level. She also said that if I even so much as thought about firing you, she would leave too."

"She wouldn't", Tim spurted out.

"Actually, she would. She loves you, you know. I think she always has thought of you as her brothers."

"We know, Boss", Tony said with a warm smile.

"So you're not firing us, Boss?" Tim asked.

"Not today, McGee. But I only give you one chance. I stuck by rule twelve just because I didn't want my agents make any bad decisions or wrong judgments because that their partner were in danger or got him- or herself killed during a case. If one of you make a bad decision just once because the other one is in danger or under a threat, I'll kill you both myself. Got it?"

"Got it, Boss", Tony and Tim said in unison and straightened their backs. Then they gave one another a loving smile before locking lips in a deep, noisy kiss right in front of Gibbs.

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**That was chapter 7. The next chapter will be the last and the end of this story.**

**Review people. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay, guys. The final chapter. It's time to say good bye to Tim and Tony. Enjoy. **

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It was a couple of days later. Tim and Tony were sitting on the couch in Tony's apartment, cuddled up against each other. They had just enjoyed a very good dinner with wine and candles, and were now watching one of Tony's old movies, even though they didn't really pay any attention to it.

Gibbs hadn't let anyone go home before the case with the dead marine from the cave was solved, but had now given the entire team a couple of well deserved days off. The bad guy was caught and everything was back to normal.

Abby had been shrilled when she found out that Gibbs wouldn't fire her friends. Tim and Tony had also announced to the entire office that they now were a couple and always would be, no matter what. Even though some people had been shocked, most were actually happy for them and themall luck they could get. Ziva hadn't even seemed surprised about their announcement, saying that she always had suspected them to end up together one day. Also the Director accepted it, but Tony suspected that Gibbs had talked to her about it first, letting her know that the entire team backed them up completely.

Tony sighed heavily and buried his nose in Tim's hair. He breathed in the scent of his love and closed his eyes. He wished that the moment would last forever.

"I still can't believe that Gibbs didn't fire us", Tim said then and cuddled closer to Tony.

"Me neither", Tony mumbled. "But I don't think we should challenge our luck by talking about it."

"But...", Tim began but was silenced by a loving kiss from Tony.

"I said, 'don't talk about it'", he said and kissed Tim again.

"Got it."

Tony smiled and turned the TV off. He took Tim by the hand and lead him to his bedroom. Tim smiled when he saw the large bed and looked up at Tony with a mischievous hint in his eyes.

"What do you think?" Tony asked with a low voice. "Better than a cave floor, right?"

"Much better", Tim said and gave Tony a kiss.

They undressed each other as slowly as they could before getting under the covers. They just laid there in each other's arms for a long time, kissing tenderly and deeply, savoring the moment. Then Tim broke the kiss and looked down at Tony with a warm smile, softly caressing the older man's cheek.

"I love you, Tone."

"I love you too, my love", Tony said and smiled back. "Of all my heart."

They kissed again and slowly and carefully began to explore each other's bodies with their hands and mouths. They lost the sense of when and where again as they made love. both focusing solemly on the man they loved. Afterwards they cuddled up against each other, both of them filled with the love they felt for the other.

Time smiled and put his nose against the nape of Tony's neck, breathing in Tony's scents. He sighed heavily and intertwined his fingers with Tony's, kissing Tony lightly on the shoulder.

"Tony?"

"Hm..?"

"Will you marry me?"

Tony opened his eyes, not really grasping that he had heard Tim asking him what he had. Then he rolled over so that he faced Tim and gave him such a soft and tender kiss that Tim melted in his arms.

"I do."

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**That's it, my friends. The final chapter. The story is now finished. To everyone who read my story, I hope you liked it. To everyone who reviewed, thank you. **

**I'm already thinking about my next story and I will try to upload the first chapter soon. **

**'Till then, have a great time.**

**See you soon // **ParagonDragon**  
**


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